Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover - Review
Written by David Liss
Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover is an official novel taking place shortly before the events of Marvel’s Spider-Man, an exclusive game for the PlayStation 4, of which I am a huge fan of. Currently, I do not live in a place where I can easily download further content and DLC for the game, and I was completely excited to happen upon this book in a bookstore. Hostile Takeover expands upon the relationship between Spider-Man and Wilson Fisk, and what transpired leading up to the exciting first chapter of the game.
You certainly don’t have to be aware of the events of the game, but at the same time I would only recommend this book to people who have played it. Spider-Man discovers there is a Spider-Man copy cat, with similar powers, but different intentions. He also discovers a protege of the Kingpin, a def woman, who eventually becomes Echo from the comics. She has trained her entire life, fueled by lies reinforced by the Kingpin, to fight and kill Spider-Man. The book also sets up Peter’s friendship with Yuri Wantanabe of the NYC Police Force, and features cameos from villains from the game. Peter also gets to spend time with side characters such as Mary Jane, and Harry before his “trip to Europe.”
The best complement I can give this book is it feels like a novelization of a comic. Spider-Man’s quips and personality feel like they were written by the same person as in the game. This is a fairly quick and easy read that has a lot going on. While I don’t think it is the most sophisticated super hero story I’ve ever read, as a fan of the game, I was happy to experience more of its universe and spend more time with its characters. If you love the game and want more insight to Peter and Fisk’s conflict, you can’t go wrong--but people won’t be able to fully appreciate it who aren’t familiar with the game.